Botswana has $3277 per head of foreign exchange reserves, a mind-boggling statistic by African standards that highlights the continent's most successful, albeit small, economy, with a population of only 1.8 million. Using a more common measure, a full 22 months of imports are covered by forex reserves of $5.9bn. This is not just due to the country producing about one third of the world's gem-quality diamonds but to a stellar management of the economy. Linah Mohohlo, governor of the Bank of Botswana is, however, exceedingly wary of accepting praise, behaviour typical of the world's central bankers. "I would not want to accept that we are successful. We have many challenges. The rating agencies, in addition to the World Bank, say it is not all hunky dory. There are highly serious issues, like the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which caught us napping, and we have to solidify our financial resources," she says.
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